Craig Breslow Offers Reminder As Red Sox Trade Questions Mount

Craig Breslow understands the Red Sox have depth in the grass, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to cut it just for the sake of cutting.

Boston’s outfield depth has been a key storyline, especially since the call-up of Roman Anthony and recent return of Masataka Yoshida. Yoshida’s elevation Wednesday prompted Red Sox manager Alex Cora to keep the red-hot Ceddanne Rafaela on the bench. Yoshida, who went 3-for-4 in his first game of the season, will start on the bench Thursday night.

But Breslow, again, doesn’t feel as if the Red Sox need to trade an outfielder just because tough lineup decisions await Cora.

“It’s something that you would have to consider if there was an opportunity to improve the team elsewhere. But I think it’s really important to point out that we don’t have to trade one of the outfielders simply because we have more guys that are capable of contributing than can start every night,” Breslow said during an appearance on WEEI’s “Greg Hill Show” on Thursday.

“I think there’s a way to balance this out,” Breslow said.

Breslow acknowledged Cora’s aggressive mindset, including the manager’s matchup-based decisions and pinch-hit opportunities given to other outfielders like Rob Refsynder. Depth isn’t a bad thing in Breslow’s eyes, it seems.

If that depth could help Boston add at a position of weakness, however, there’s no denying Breslow will keep his options open.

“We have to be open-minded about ways to improve the team,” he said. “And the obvious one that continues to pop up is, ‘Is there an opportunity to address the rotation potentially through some of that outfield depth?’ And we just don’t know yet.”

The Red Sox will receive their answer soon enough with the MLB trade deadline July 31.